Monday saw a blizzard in Tokyo, which dumped 8 cm of snow in the capital. Although 'dumped' doesn't quite seem to hit the right note, as it would seem to be more adequate in connection with at least half a metre of snow...
8 cm doesn't sound like much, and it isn't - at least not to someone from an Alpine nation used to snow (heck, I even did my driving test on snow-covered roads). Yet, whenever there is more than a centimetre of snow on the ground in Tokyo (and this was the first time in two years), the city finds itself completely paralysed.
Thankfully, it doesn't happen often, as we are actually blessed with a relatively mild and extremely dry winter, with ample sunshine and blue skies almost every single day throughout the winter months, while all the snow-laden clouds gather on the opposite side of the archipelago (towards the Japan Sea) and towards the north.
You might be surprised to hear that Japan is the country with the highest snowfall in the world, with the snowiest place being the city of Aomori, which gets on average almost 8 metres (26 feet) of snow every year. That's a lot of shovelling!
So while heavy snowfall is a regular occurrence in other parts of the country, in the Tokyo area it's relatively rare. One more reason why, when it does happen, it then routinely causes havoc in the capital.
On this occasion, several metropolitan train lines were temporarily halted, affecting close to 200,000 people. Six express trains were stuck at stations for over 10 hours overnight, forcing over 1,600 passengers to spend the night onboard. Over 100 flights, mostly domestic, but also some international, were cancelled. Power to around 14,000 homes was temporarily cut. And over 140 people in the capital were taken to hospitals after many slipped and fell during the heavy snowfall.
I myself found myself stuck in crawling road traffic on my way home from the office, after making the mistake of going into the office in the first place, instead of working from home. I had several meetings lined up for the day and felt it was important to conduct them face to face, although in retrospect, it would have been far more efficient online, because it turned out to be my longest car commute ever, as instead of the usual 40 minutes, the 15-kilometre journey took me an incredible 3 ½ hours!
But at least I feel vindicated for making the effort of having my winter tyres mounted at the beginning of winter, after thinking that I needn't have bothered when we drove to the mountainous Nagano region for the New Year's holidays, with not even a single snowflake in sight during the entire time.
What was a blessing this time is that after the snow came higher temperatures and rain, which ensured that the 'white mess' disappeared almost as quickly as it had accumulated. Had the sub-zero temperatures persisted and the weather cleared up, all the roads and pavements would have turned into a bumpy ice field, which would have been much more treacherous, because authorities simply lack the equipment to clear the snow. Which is understandable: Why bother with the enormous cost if snowfall only occurs here once in a blue moon, right?
A few years ago, when we encountered record snowfall in Tokyo (with a respectable 23 centimetres), that is exactly what happened, as the white stuff lying on the roads froze over and remained for some considerable time, making it a dangerous undertaking to be out and about - be it on foot or by car. Although I did find it quite entertaining to watch people toppling over while navigating the slippery pavements, unaccustomed to the art of balancing on ice without actually falling over...
Anyway, now that the blizzard is over, I think it's fairly safe to say that the worst of winter is behind us. In fact, with temperatures in the capital expected to soar to a balmy 19° Celsius as early as the middle of next week, spring already seems surprisingly close!
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